On this day, Jan. 30, 180 years ago, Andrew Jackson became the first U.S. president to bring a cane to a gunfight — and win.
Jackson was leaving a congressional funeral in the Capitol building when he became the target of the first known assassination attempt on an American president. An unemployed house painter, Richard Lawrence, pulled out a pistol and fired, just a few paces from the president. When that gun misfired, he pulled out a second, which also misfired.
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